Giants’ Prince crowned champion

Prince Amukamara’s rookie season didn’t start as he had planned, but he certainly isn’t complaining about the way it ended.

The former Glendale Apollo High star who missed the first nine games of the regular season after breaking his left foot, is now celebrating a Super Bowl championship after the New York Giants held off the New England Patriots 21-17 Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Amukamara, who was on the field when Tom Brady’s hail mary pass fell incomplete as time expired, described the most exciting moment in his young career.

“I was in the back of the end zone waiting for a tipped ball,” Amukamara explained to Brad Cesmat Monday on “Big Guy on Sports.” “I saw the ball go to the ground and I saw [Rob Gronkowski] dive for it. As soon as the ball was incomplete, I took off my helmet and went on a knee.”

Super Bowl Champ Prince Amukamara on ‘Big Guy on Sports’

The wild ride which ensued in the hours following the Giants second Super Bowl upset of the Pats is something he will remember for quite some time.

“I went to sleep at six in the morning (Monday) and had to get up at 8:30 to catch this plane,” Amukamara told Cesmat from the rowdy team charter moments before takeoff Monday morning. “They had a huge party back at the hotel. Ciera came, Katy Perry came.”

For he and his Giants’ teammates the celebrations are just beginning as the Big Apple will toast their latest champions with a ticker tape parade Tuesday along Broadway in lower Manhattan.

Through it all, the grounded Amukamara says he’ll never forget his roots to the Valley where he excelled as a two-way star at Apollo High School before accepting a scholarship to Nebraska in 2007.

“Thank you Phoenix for always having my back and supporting me,” he said. “I’m always going to love Arizona and give back in any way I can.”